2026 Winter Olympic Torch Relay Journey Announced

All the cities and iconic sites across Italy will welcome the Olympic Flame on its journey to Milano Cortina 2026: 12,000 km, 10,001 torchbearers, 300 cities, 20 regions and 60 UNESCO heritage sites ready to be lit.

The Olympic torch was lit again to be brought back to Italy after Turin 2006. Photo: Getty Images

The flame's journey will begin on 26 November with a lighting ceremony in Olympia. This ceremony marks the start of the flame's journey through Greece and to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, which hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern era. Here, on 4 December 2025, the Olympic flame will be symbolically transferred from the Hellenic Olympic Committee to the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee for its transfer to Italy.

The torch will then set off on 6 December from Rome's historic Stadio dei Marmi. From there, it will visit famous destinations such as Tuscany, Sardinia, Sicily and Pompei, before spending Christmas in Naples and New Year's Eve in Bari. The torch relay will pass many of Italy's most famous and important sites - including the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain, Venice's Grand Canal and one of the highest peaks in the Alps, Punta Gnifetti, at 4,554m in the Monte Rosa mountain range.

The journey will continue throughout January, with the torch arriving in Cortina d'Ampezzo on January 26, exactly 70 years after the opening ceremony of the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. The torch relay will come to a dramatic end on February 5 or 6, when the torch arrives in Milan ahead of the event's opening ceremony.

The flame will be carried by thousands of people, including Francesco Bagnaia (two-time MotoGP world champion), tennis star Flavia Pennetta, chef Lucia Tellone and Dario Pivirotto – who also carried the torch at both Cortina 1956 and Turin 2006. The torchbearers will wear white uniforms with red and gold motifs reminiscent of the Olympic flame, symbolising “the spreading light that connects every step towards Milano Cortina 2026”, said Scott Mellin, Salomon’s global brand director.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/cong-bo-hanh-trinh-ruoc-ngon-duoc-olympic-mua-dong-2026-20251119145524152.htm